BBC Minimizes Christian Persecution

While it is no secret that the so-called mainstream media habitually fail to report on the international phenomenon of Christian persecution, few are aware that they sometimes actively work to undermine the efforts of those who do expose it.

“Credible research has reached the shocking conclusion that every year an estimate of more than 100,000 Christians are killed because of some relation to their faith,” Vatican spokesman Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi announced in a radio address to the United Nations Human Rights Council in May.

On the internet, the statistic has taken on a life of its own, popping up all over the place, sometimes with an additional detail—that these 100,000 lives are taken by Muslims.

The number comes originally from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the US state of Massachusetts, which publishes such a figure each year in its Status of Global Mission (see line 28).

Its researchers started by estimating the number of Christians who died as martyrs between 2000 and 2010—about one million by their reckoning—and divided that number by 10 to get an annual number, 100,000.

But how do they reach that figure of one million?

When you dig down, you see that the majority died in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo….

If you were to take away the 90,000 deaths in DR Congo from the CSGC’s figure of 100,000, that would leave 10,000 martyrs per year.

Later, after arguing that, “while violence continues in DR Congo, it’s less extreme today than it was at its height,” Alexander quotes approximately 7,000-8,000 Christians worldwide dying for their faith (the CSGC projects 150,000 dead by 2025).

Regarding the statement—“how do they [CSGC] reach that figure of one million? When you dig down, you see that the majority died in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo”—it is unclear where Alexander got this information. She does provide a link to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity’s Status of Global Mission, telling readers to “see line 28,” which indeed confirms the average number of 100,000 Christians martyred per year. However, nowhere in this CSGC report does the word “Congo” appear, prompting one to wonder where Alexander went to “dig down” for information.

If it is true that the number 100,000 is primarily based on the Congo, and that the annual number of martyred Christians around the world is 7,000-8,000, the total number of Christians killed specifically because of their faith would seem to be reduced by a whopping 93%.

Of course, many human rights activists do assert that Christians are specifically targeted in the Congo. Moreover, as Alexander indicates, the CSGC counts only 20% of the millions of Christians killed in the Congo as martyrs, meaning some set of standards or qualifications distinguishing those killed for their faith from those killed in general was relied on. Finally, regarding the all-important question of how many Christians around the world are killed, Alexander herself later quotes another source saying “there is no scientific number at the moment. It has not been researched and all experts in this area are very hesitant to give a figure.”

And this seems to be the real point. Of all the questions and aspects of Christian persecution that objective researchers and reporters can explore and expose, why did the BBC pick the very one that 1) cannot be answered and 2) is ultimately irrelevant—at best academic, at worst cold and callous?

(The issue is less whether 100,000 Christians around the world are killed annually for their faith, but rather that any Christian, any human—even Alexander’s “paltry” 7,000—is being killed for their faith.)

The BBC naturally picked this “numbers” question because it best serves to minimize the specter of Christian persecution, specifically by prompting the casual reader to conclude, “Oh, well, things are certainly nowhere near as bad as I thought for Christian minorities outside the West—indeed, they’re 93% better!”

Incidentally, since when do numbers matter to the supposedly “humanitarian-conscious” BBC and other “liberal” media where one life (provided it’s the “right” life) often gets nonstop coverage? Would the BBC ever write a report dedicated to trying to show that the number of Palestinians killed in the conflict with Israel is actually 93% lower than widely believed?

Of course not. When it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict, far from minimizing anything, the BBC regularly exaggerates to demonize Israel.

And therein lies the main lesson. The BBC is not in the business of reporting facts but rather creating smokescreens, building and knocking down straw men, and chasing red herrings—all to further its narratives, in this case, that “only” 7,000-8,000 Christians are killed annually for their faith, and that the Islamic world is largely innocent—so what’s all the fuss about?

Subscribe and Get Connected

Enter your email to subscribe for free updates and get the latest content to your email.

When Obama and Cameron were warmongering about Syria, the BBC played a leading role in publishing war propaganda (including staged video footage and cynically using a picture from 2003 in Iraq in a report about a chemical attack in Syria).

jenny

Oh God have mercy on us and spare our lives.

davidt

I’m a follower of Christ and seeking to understand the word of God every day and I want to challenge your prayer lives. The more I read the more I think our prayer life is off, Paul doesn’t pray to be saved from persecution, but to remain bold in speaking of Christ, John in Revelation tells us clearly there will be persecution until Christ’s return. Jesus says take up your cross and follow Me. BBC is a group of people, who mostly are not believers, Islam is a religion that doesn’t look to Christ being King. My challenge is that you would pray for the believers boldness and the continued spread of the gospel, rather than our lives being spared. I don’t see that attitude in scripture, just one of boldness. Just a challenge if you are a follower of Christ.

Tanner

Lord Jesus, save us from Satan’s army of Islam. Save the poor Christians who are killed for following You, as we privileged Christians live in luxury. Forgive us and save us all! Hold the ones who are murdered for Your namesake in Your arms for all eternity, and give them the glory only You can bestow! I cannot wait to see all the heroes of the faith, who have given their lives selflessly for the faith. Then I will praise then Lord for raising such powerful servants!

ColoursFed

all the staff at the BBC are SCUM, they allow MI6 and the CIA to use their foreign dept., has journalist, so the people like Cameron and Obama can de-stabilise sovereign nations, for these two murders to make regime changes of the leaders who will not bend over to them, they used, and paid world terrorist (from the UK IRA) to destroy Libya, and murder its leader. These are the people scum that you all elected!

Search

Raymond Ibrahim is a Middle East and Islam specialist and author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007). His writings have appeared in a variety of media, including the Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst, Middle East Quarterly, World Almanac of Islamism, and Chronicle of Higher Education; he has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, PBS, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, NPR, Blaze TV, and CBN. Ibrahim regularly speaks publicly, briefs governmental agencies, provides expert testimony for Islam-related lawsuits, and testifies before Congress. He is a Shillman Fellow, David Horowitz Freedom Center; a CBN News contributor; a Media Fellow, Hoover Institution (2013); and a Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow, Middle East Forum . Ibrahim’s dual-background -- born and raised in the U.S. by Coptic Egyptian parents born and raised in the Middle East -- has provided him with unique advantages, from equal fluency in English and Arabic, to an equal understanding of the Western and Middle Eastern mindsets, positioning him to explain the latter to the former.

The reproduction of any material or information originating on this website must include either a link to this website or cite the name of this website (RaymondIbrahim.com) as the source of the material or information reproduced. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.